Sledding & Baking...........

We watched Brenden, Tyler & Maddie on 12/29/09 for Jeremy & Kim so they could go to a meeting. It was a pretty nice day, so we played outside for awhile in the afternoon.

Tyler sledding on the hill across from our townhouse.

Maddie playing in the snow.

Brenden climbing the "snow-plowed mountain".

I was a little afraid that Maddie would be afraid of sledding down the hill............but she loved it!! Click on the picture to make it bigger & you can see she is laughing & having a great time. She wanted to sled down the hill again & again.........then she was sad when it was time to go in. :)

Later, Tyler & I made a chocolate cake. Maddie got up on Tyler's stool to watch me pour the batter in to the pan. I opened the oven door to put the cake in and when I turned around, I found this........................

.............Maddie had her fingers in the cake batter! :)

Mmmmmm...............it tastes good! :)

Tyler just wanted to get in on the picture action. :)

Christmas at Our House

We celebrated our Christmas at home after we got home from Duluth.

Christmas for Grandma Vi

We brought Grandma Vi her Christmas presents to her apartment the day after Christmas.

Kevin modeled a night gown that Grandma got for Christmas! Isn't he lovely??

Here is a beautiful sweater that Grandma Vi received.

Here are some pictures of the all the snow we got in Duluth.

Christmas at Todd's Mom's House--12/25/09

Christmas at Todd's mom's house was quiet & small this year. Not everyone could make it to Duluth because of a big snowstorm. We got about 2 feet of snow over two days.

Todd's dad got the biggest present.

Todd & I bought him 8 packages of bio-degradable toilet paper for his camper. :) He thought that was great & got a big laugh out of it!

Christmas at Sonja's Mom's House--12/19/09

We had Christmas at Mom's house a week early this year.

Maddie looking cute with her ponytails. :)

Todd & Luke............Luke was pretty cute in his "Naughty" outfit. :)

All the kids............

Top: Andrew (almost 2), Maddie (1-1/2), J.D. (12), Luke (almost 2 mo.), Tiffany (19), Justin (10) & Tyler (3)

Bottom: Nicholas (8), Brenden (7) & Evan (6.....almost 7)

Maddie & Andrew in their toy tubs.

Luke with his blanket. :)

Andrew's 2nd birthday was December 28th, so we gave him his birthday present, too. He was very excited about his puppy. :)

Tiffany gave 3 of the boys knight helmets for Christmas. Maddie was wearing it while eating in the kitchen. Tyler thought it was pretty funny.

Tiffany made this cake for Christmas...................very cool! :)

Andrew even wanted to sit on my lap & snuggle for awhile before they left. I was pretty excited since we don't get to see Andrew very often & he doesn't know "Nana" as well as the other kids do. :)

Here is a video that I took on our digital camer of Andrew & Maddie dancing to one of the toys that Andrew got for Christmas. :) Sorry it is sideways..........I couldn't figure out how to change the orientation.

The Christmas Window 2009

We were watching Tyler & Maddie both weekends that we did The Christmas Window performances, so we got to have them in the production with us. That was so fun! They came out with Todd & me for the 1st song......Christmas Time.......and also came out with me for the song Joy to watch the ice skaters. :)

Mom, Tyler & Maddie before a performance.

Maddie hamming it up before a performance.

Sonja, Maddie, Tyler & Todd on the set of Christmas Time.

I was the coffe shop owner again. I had a new apron & my shop got a new look this year.

Tyler, Maddie & me.

Tyler, Maddie & me by the indoor skating rink where we watched three very good ice skaters skate to Joy. Maddie would often look & point in awe at the Christmas lights behind us on the trees. :) Tyler would say, "We go watch the skaters & then we go back to the nursery?" He loved playing in the nursery until it was their time to come out. :)

Watching the ice skating. The girls were very good. :)

Todd & I auditioned for the parts of two snow-people..............Snazzle & Annette. Todd got the part of Snazzle & I was the understudy for Annette. Todd was GREAT! :)

Todd as Snazzle the snowman. Isn't he handsome? :)

Snazzle & Annette

I was an angel for the songs Son of God and Jesus Saves. I really liked my costume.....it was pretty. :)

Todd was also one of the three kings. He is the one in brown closest to the manger.

The end of the song.................Son of God. :)

Happy Birthday Sonja!

For my birthday, Todd brought me flowers, candy & balloons to my work. :)

We went to Red Robin for dinner & Todd gave me my presents. :)

Maddie loved the balloons...........even though it was a couple of days later & they weren't floating anymore. :)

Maddie liked our big Christmas lights for the fence & our manger scene. :)